4 Ws of Effective Digital Coupon Campaigns

Using coupons in e-commerce is always a controversial topic. Some merchants consider them to be the “Holy Grail” of sales, while other are afraid of their negative sides able to break consistent cash flows.



Walking through the coupons usage statistics we may say that in most cases coupons are still effective for increasing sales volumes and positively taken by the majority of customers. Just consider the following facts:

• According to different sources, from 81% to 96% of customers use coupons on a regular basis;


• 82% of customers find digital coupons more convenient options than the printed ones;


• 79% of shoppers would not buy an item if they forget to bring a coupon in-store;


• 83% of customers make unplanned purchases due to suggested promotions or coupons.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Still, there is always a “dark side”, e.g. you can not control distribution of universal coupons; discounts reduce AOV; there is a chance to drive accidental customers to your store, etc.

However, to our mind, you can overcome all possible negative effects and profit greatly from coupons in your store. You just need to follow some time-tested coupon usage tactics able to bring more sales without any devastating consequences. Below we present you 4 Ws of effective coupon tactics you can make a mental note of.

When

• Abandoned Carts. That’s the first most evident use case for coupons making customers close their orders with purchases;


• New Customers. One more effective and widely used tactic is to welcome new customers with first purchase coupons;


• Old Customers. In order to appreciate long-term on-going relationships you can issue coupons for regular customers. They will certainly appreciate this kind of rewards and stay loyal much longer;


• Inventory that doesn’t move. Using coupons to move unsold stocks is also a great idea, especially that here you can take advantage of really deep discounts and, this way, increase the efficiency of your pricing strategy;


• Pre-orders. Discounted prices for pre-ordered products are traditional and you can use coupons for this very purpose;


• Seasonal Sales. Seasonal sales are probably the best time for different discounts as reduced prices are just natural for high seasons. At this time it is better to have sophisticated opportunities for unique and focused coupon distributions;


• In exchange of information. If you need some information from your customers, either reviews or brand attitude demonstrations, you can intensify their activity with some dedicated coupons;


• In exchange of social media engagement. Ask customers to share and like you social media content in exchange of some kind of discounts;


• Company’s birthday and other occasions. Coupons are also great for celebrating different significant dates in your company’s and brand’s life, including birthdays, historical achievements and other milestones;


• Holding visitors. If a new customer is about to leave your store, you have a good chance to restrain him from this reckless move offering a discount able to reanimate the interest to your brand;


• Retargeted visitors. Using remarketing campaigns is always beneficial, but they can become even more effective with some coupons attached;


• National and Local Visitors. Sometimes you need to motivate only certain customer groups, e.g. visitors from certain countries or locations. Coupons are also indispensable in these cases.

Where

Alongside appropriate cases, channels of coupons distribution are also very important. Customers should clearly realize that the offer is provided by your company and have a chance to reach the discount immediately.

• In store. The shortest and most effective way to reach customers and make them loyal with coupons are in-store promotions;


• Social Media (incl. Facebook, Twitter, etc.) Social media is also perfect for coupon offers as far as customers associate corporate accounts with your products and accustomed to get discounts there;


• Corporate Blogs. The center of corporate news is also important for reaching more potential coupon users;


• Customer Base Mailing. Direct appeals to existing customers with coupon offers are always efficient as far as they embrace your most loyal audience;


• Follow Ups. Either used for abandoned carts, new customers or other occasions, coupons added to follow up emails do their job and bring new sales;


• Help Desk. In the help desk you can use coupons for both excuses or promotions, but you can be sure that your efforts will make a positive impact on your relations with customers;


• Coupon Aggregators. The web sites posting coupons are the destination point for multiple people chasing bargains and a great shelter for your discounts as well;


• Press Releases. If you need to make your coupons available for the greatest possible audience, you can take advantage of press releases. But, you should also realise that this channel may attract multiple unwanted customers and result in returns;


• Exclusive Partners or Affiliates. This is a great option in the case you need to leverage the efficiency of partner and affiliate programs. Provided discounts allow partner companies to attract new customers more effectively and get extra benefits.

What

You can offer different kinds of coupons depending on your products, brand tone, and final goals. In fact, here you can exercise the best of your inspiration and improvisation. So, we’ll provide you with just some basic examples of coupon discounts ever invented for e-commerce purposes.

• 10% off all products. In order to intensify purchases you can provide general discounts applicable to all catalog products;


• 10% off certain products. If you need to motivate sales of only certain products, you can differentiate coupons depending on certain items;


• 10% off the order above $100. This kind of coupons is suitable to increase AOVs;


• Purchase a product and get 10% off the next purchase. Using coupons you can also intensify repeated purchases;


• Expiring Coupons. Expiring coupons are made to convince doubters to close their orders with no delay;


• Money-based Coupons. Sometimes money-based coupons are even more effective making customers believe that they do not spend money on the item;


• Free Items. Free item coupons are also extremely persuasive as far as customers like to get freebies of any kind;


• Free Shipping. Despite free shipping has already become common practice you can still provide it as coupons to customers.

Sure enough, you can use several of the mentioned above coupon types simultaneously and invent own effective promotions taking into account all aspects of your business and the lessons learned previously.

What Way

As you can see, coupon promotions are greatly diversified and able to meet almost any marketing needs. Still, you can even further improve the ways of their usage and take some additional actions in order to make them a bit more effective for your brand.

• Separate Coupon Pages. Creating a separate coupon pages makes sense if you provide a lot of multi-target coupons at once. In this case, customers are able to find all of them on one page conveniently;


• Coupon Countdowns. There are no never-ending sales, because it is senseless and even harmful. Each coupon has an expiration period, and using countdowns you can additionally emphasize its time-limited nature;


• Unique Coupon Kits. We have already mentioned that different coupons are applicable to different businesses. So, eventually you will find a ‘killing’ scope of coupon types greatly effective for your products;


• Track Coupon Statistics (incl. CTR, ROI, etc.) In order to find out the most effective coupon promotions you need to monitor statistics using several key indicators;


• Let Customers Ask for Coupons. Show visitors that you are price-flexible in certain circumstances and ready to issue individual coupons. That makes customers eager to get the best price and look for any chances for a bargain.

Coupon Code Generator for Magento 2

Now, if you reached this line, you certainly have a brilliant idea for the effective coupon use and one little embarrassment... Perhaps, you wonder about the tool able to implement all that heap of thoughts in your head. Well, we’ve got the thing you need - Coupon Code Generator for Magento 2.

The module allows you to create individual or universal coupons and send them to customers personally or massively. Using multiple attribute options you can create almost any type of coupons with separated expiration terms and track their statistics from the backend.

More Information:

• Coupon Code Generator Page;


• Technical Documentation;


• Demo Store;


• Blog Post.